1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display systems and more particularly to display modes for large area display systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many years, systems have been modifying display formats based upon vehicle operational regime or vehicle input conditions (e.g. engine failure). In many cases, these regimes or conditions are considered or labeled “modes” of operation. However, as capabilities have increased, so too have the demands on the vehicle and the operator. Larger displays demand increased power. Larger displays allow system designers to increase the amount of information being displayed to the operator and maximize configurability, but also significantly increase operator training time to utilize the system.
Traditionally, increased information and capability has come with increased configurability. As more information is displayed and controlled and more display area is available, more and more options and configurability has been designed into systems. New cockpits use a single large area display (e.g. 8 inch by 20 inch active area) instead of several smaller displays. Modern tactical cockpits integrate enormous amounts of sensor fusion. Typical legacy display sizes that are suited for small fighter cockpits do not have enough viewable surface area to accurately depict sensor fusion to the pilot. Since the advent of the F-35 aircraft, many platforms are realizing the benefits of a large area display and are moving to incorporate one as a new install or retrofit. The current F-35 large area display has limitations that do not fully utilize the large display surface. For example, it cannot draw down the middle of the display; its graphical interface partitions the 8×20 display into four 5×7 windows, and if one side of the graphics processor fails, that half of the display blanks. FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a simplified block diagram of the display system presently used in existing large area display systems. These display systems typically include more than one display, specifically more than one Liquid Crystal Display laminated in a fashion to appear as one large area display. (The example of FIG. 1 illustrates two displays.) When the user touches the touchscreen as shown in the top left portion of FIG. 1, a myriad of region and format options may be activated. For example, a new region and a new format may be generated by the processing graphics elements of the display system, as shown in the top right portion of that Figure. Additional region, format, and configuration options are available. One feature of the current display system design is that the display region and format options available to the operator are significant. This allows each operator to configure the displays formats as they specifically desire. However, this also significantly increases training time as the operator has to learn the rules by which display regions and formats are configured in order to safely operate the vehicle.
Although the single large area display enhances the human interface, the large backlight can draw excessive battery power under emergency situations. The battery may not last long enough for the pilot to land safely.